OSU faculty member wins prestigious art grant

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Julie Green, associate professor of art at Oregon State University, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation.

Green is one of 25 contemporary artists to receive the $25,000 award, which is granted annually to acknowledge painters and sculptors nationwide creating work of exceptional quality.

Green is most widely known for her project called The Last Supper, a series of painted plates that illustrate final meal requests of death row inmates in the United States. To date, she has painted almost 500 final meals and the project has received national media attention in outlets as diverse as National Public Radio and the magazines Ceramic Monthly and Gastronomica magazine.

In addition to her work on The Last Supper, Green spends her time on narrative paintings that observe contemporary society.

“Joan Mitchell was an important abstract painter; she was one of only a handful of women artists to receive international recognition in the 1950s,” Green said. “I am deeply honored to be given this award which brings recognition to our painting program and to Oregon State University.”

Green’s work has been included in 25 solo exhibitions in this country and abroad. Green lives in Corvallis with her husband, artist Clay Lohmann. She has a Masters in Fine Art from University of Kansas and has been at OSU since 2000. She teaches classes on painting and drawing.

The Joan Mitchell Foundation was established in 1993 as a nonprofit corporation following the death of celebrated painter Joan Mitchell in October 1992. The foundation strives to fulfill the ambitions of Joan Mitchell to assist the needs of contemporary artists and to demonstrate that painting and sculpture are significant cultural necessities. For more information, visit: www.joanmitchellfoundation.org.